A Dragon's Heart
by wingsofobsidia
Summary: Love is a delicate thing. It can heal wounds long forgotten, mend ways, even act as a light in a broken being, but in a time of rising hysteria, will love be enough to settle the differences between shadows and Draconians? Does a love that strong exist?YY
1. A suspicious encounter

_Well here you go, my first story. I hope you all like._

_I would like to thank my friend, Zephyr-Sombra for her part in editing this. I couldn't have gotten this chapter posted up without her._

_Now, for the disclaimer._

_I do not own any Yugioh characters, they are the property of Kazuki Takahashi. However, this story belongs solely to me and I can do what I please with them (grabs characters and runs away)_

_Now, on with the story!_

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_' ' characters thinking (I'll tell which one)_

_" " characters talking (I'll tell which one)_

_/Flashback/ speaks for itself_

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_Prologue_

_Long ago, in a time before the arrival of the shadows, a serene world existed where all of god's creatures co-existed peacefully with one another, watched ever so closely by the seven dragons of Yore. However, as time passed, new and faster means were developed for completing tasks and, with the dragons' guidance, humans were able to create an advanced civilization where all of ones desires could be met. What the dragons had failed to realize however that was by introducing power into an intelligent species, the innate evil that lay embedded within their sub consciousness would awaken, causing extreme amounts of pain and anguish to arise. _

_Shortly after the civilization was created, its walls began to crumble. The humans that had once been pure beings, untainted by the evil that lay dormant within them, had been tainted. The power that had so-willingly been handed to them had stirred their inner beast, awakening the darkness inside of them while it caused them to yield to the unconditional grasp of greed. It was from this greed that the shadows were born. _

_Feasting on the darkness that lay embedded within the human soul, the shadow population began to slowly grow. Spreading their grasps to the furthest reaches of the world, the shadows were soon able to consume it, plaguing the sky over in a blanket of darkness. _

_The Dragons, still in a state of shock from the unfathomed turn of events, slowly came to the realization that something had to be done in order to bring peace to the world once again. Together the dragons formed a plan, a plan that, in its midst, would not only prove to be the Earth's salvation, but humanity's as well. _

_The dragons were to disappear, vanish without a trace into the corridors of time, never to be seen or heard of again, but not without leaving a few remnants of their shattered existence behind. _

_Seven stones were to be left, each encasing one of the seven dragon's souls. However, these were no ordinary stones as can be seen from what happened after they had been left in the continuum. The stones had activated, scanning the seemingly endless mass of tainted individuals for a sign of their wielder for, after they had been left, the stones had been designated to choose one, the sole person deemed worthy to unlock their hidden power and, with it, rid the world of the darkness. _

_After seemingly endless hours of scanning, the stones were somehow able to single out seven individuals from the mass, each possessing a good sense of right and wrong as well as a desire to rid the world of the darkness. _

_In time, the stones sealed the chosen seven's souls away within their depths, granting them free interaction and bondage with the souls that they already possessed, the souls of the seven dragons of Yore. _

_As time passed and the bonds between dragon and wielder strengthened, so did the power that resided within each of the stones as well as their wielder's control over it. Eventually the time came when the shadows' presence was threatening to destroy the world and the band, making themselves known as the Draconians, was forced to act. _

_A great battle was waged between the shadows and the representatives of the fallen Dragons of Yore. A battle which, in its midst, resulted in the deaths of many innocent creatures that had pledged their lives to the Draconians. One of the Draconians, a Draconian by the name of Tetuime, bonded to the ancient dragon Sukuzan, even lost his life in the field of battle when, through his selflessness, he had blocked the attack that a shadow had targeted at his friend's love, a young civilian woman by the name of Kuarkian. _

_This Kuarkian also happened to be The Light, an ancient manifestation of all light and good in the world and the being needed to end the war. However, in order for the war to end and peace to be returned to the land, Kuarkian had to be sacrificed. This did not play well with Kuarkian's love. _

_Kuarkian's love and Tentuime's dear friend, Atemuisme, a Draconian bonded to the most ancient and wisest of all the dragons of Yore, Guerialdo, was torn. As a Draconian it was his duty to protect the world but, as a lover, it was his duty to protect his love at all costs. To see his love die in the common interest of others was ludicrous; why should his love, the purest and most beautiful of all beings, die for the sake of a mass of tainted individuals who would continue to be tainted even after the shadows had been sealed away? The idea was ludicrous! The darkness would always exist within mankind, plaguing the heart of every flawed individual while it waited for the right moment to strike; no amount of his love's light would change that. The darkness would never be sealed away for all of eternity, it was a simple truth that many failed to realize. _

_What Atemuisme failed to realize however was that Kuarkian, being the light that she was, wanted to sacrifice herself if it meant saving the lives of countless many. Her desire remained even after the realization dawned on her that, after she had been sacrificed, these individuals would continue to retain a shred of the darkness clouding their inner mind's eye. _

_And all of the Draconians, even Atemuisme deep down, knew that Kuarkian would have to be sacrificed if they ever hoped light to return to the world once again. However, when the Draconians tried to approach Atemuisme with this fact, Atemuisme became furious, cursing at their impudence while a mental wall was put up, born out of his furiosity, destroying all odds that the others would be able to reach him. _

_The Draconians felt helpless. Atemuisme, their dearest friend and mentor, had lost faith in them entirely, causing all their efforts to reach him to end in vain. No matter how much they tried to pierce the thick wall, it was to no avail. So, there was only one thing they could do. A plan had to be constructed. _

_So, under night's watchful eye, when those of Atemuisme were shut, the Draconians formulated the perfect plan. They expressed various ideas, some good, some great, and some ridiculous, slowly conjuring up a plan that would tip things into the Draconians favor. Finally, after many stressful nights, the fear of what Atemuisme might do to them driving them on, looming over them like a panther ready to strike, the plan was at last complete. _

_The Draconians, after shortly touching base with Kuarkian, informing her of the recent turn of events as well as getting her approval of the plan, decided to put the plan into action the following day when Atemuisme would be present to obliviously play his role in it. So, when the following day rolled around, the thick silence that had settled between the five Draconians unbearable, the knowledge of what was about to be done creeping up their spines, the Draconians began to get reluctant. Were they really willing to do this? Save the world at the cost of going behind their friend's back, destroying the one he loves, as well as breaking his heart in the process? Were they really willing to do all that? _

_Despite their unsureness, it had to be done. They were talking about the lives of millions. To sacrifice two lives for the costs of millions was a worthy cost, right? Even if those two lives were the lives of their friends? It was worth it right? Torn, the Draconians decided to listen to their minds, not their hearts and the plan played out as scheduled. _

_Shortly after a feud began, started when one of the Draconians, the female Taurintia, bonded to the second youngest of the Dragons of Yore, Zambone, threw a ball of magic at a shadow, the plan was put into motion. Atemuisme, just as predicted, was distracted by the overwhelming numbers of shadows that had decided to participate in the battle, sending waves of magic in different directions, destroying the shadows that posed a threat to himself and his other fellow Draconians. _

_In the meantime, Darhutian, another Draconian, bonded to the youngest of the Dragons of Yore, Inialdo, escorted Kuarkian, hidden in a veil of darkness, deeper into the realm of the shadow. Despite its appearance of darkness, the veil protected Kuarkian from the unforgiving grasps of the shadows, acting as a barrier against the clawing hands that would have otherwise torn her to pieces. _

_Once they had reached the heart of the shadow realm, Darhutian with a somber look marring his usually easy-going features, began to remove the cloak of darkness from around Kuarkian's shoulders. However, Kuarkian, petrified of what was to happen, used her own magic to fight against Darhutian's, determined for the cloak to stay in its place around her. _

_Darhutian just looked down at her despairingly, his heart telling him one thing, his mind another, as the look of sheer terror shining in her honey orbs as well as her actions encouraged him to listen to his heart's perspective. But he couldn't, he just couldn't. The lives of so many people were at risk and in order for them to survive, this had to be done. _

_So, with despair shining within their relics, Darhutian's eyes closed, before a startled gasp could be heard as his newly-manifested magic overwhelmed hers, causing the cloak of darkness to dissipate from around her and the shadows to look at her hungrily. Honey orbs widened in horror before turning to look into sapphire pleadingly, desperate. _

_Darhutian just closed his eyes in despair as he turned away from her, his ebony hair falling into his face, eyes being shadowed over as he bowed his head. He couldn't. _

_Kuarkian sank down to her knees in disbelief, a look of shock marring her beautiful face. She had been betrayed. She had thought that the Draconians, the people that she had come to cherish over the past months, her friends, would stand by her, believing in her every decision, but now, when she chose not to sacrifice herself, to stay by her love's side, they had abandoned her...even her love... _

_A whimper escaped her as the last statement played across her mind. Her love, her other, had betrayed her? No, that couldn't be possible, the idea was ridiculous; he loved her, of course he would never do that! _

_Hardened honey eyes softened as a new question bound into her consciousness. _

_If her love's loyal friend, the one that he trusted to tell anything, had been the one that had taken her out here, to this forbidding place, deep within the realm of the shadows, could it not be wondered if her love truly had betrayed her? That her love had been the one to ask the other to do this? Could it be true? _

_Tearing herself from her thoughts, she slowly brought her tear-stained eyes toward the Draconian to her right to look at him more closely. Her eyes widened. His head was bowed; a bowed head was a sure sign that someone was being kept in the dark about something, something that may even prove to hurt someone greatly in the end. _

_Painful understanding could be seen in honey, before Kuarkian's eyes slipped shut, concealing her pain, as unshed tears began to soundlessly leak passed closed lids. People always bowed their heads when trying to hide something, it was a means to conceal their true thoughts and feelings. _

_I understand now. Darhutian, by bowing his head, is trying to shield me, like he always does from unnecessary pain, but its different this time. This time he is trying to shield me from the truth...the truth that, his friend, the one I love, my dearest Atemuisme, has grown tired of me, that...More tears leaked passed...he n-no longer l-loves me... _

_Her head bowed, coming to rest on her chest, as tears began to stream down the contour lines on her face and a sob racked her small form. He n-no l-longer l-l-loves me? B-but how? W-why? Haven't I been a good companion? Haven't I been good to him these past months? Confiding and believing in him in his times of greatest need? _

_A pair of honey eyes, filled to the brim with tears, shakily raised themselves to peer into the suffocating oblivion where the shadows still lay, greedily licking at their lips as their beady, blood-shot eyes continued to rack over her small form. _

_"How can he no longer love me when I am so hopelessly in love with him?" Kuarkian whispered, her voice cracking as a few stray tears slipped from her grief-stricken eyes. _

_"How can he no longer love me when I feel my heart breaking at his absence?" She continued, her body beginning to tremble and her eyes slipping shut. _

_"How can he no longer love me..." Her voice, with every word spoken, was becoming dangerously low as all uncertainty vanished, being replaced by an air of sick knowing that was dripping with disgust. "...when I am willing to sacrifice all that I am for him" Her eyes opened and her smirk grew as she gazed out at the millions of shadows waiting to tear her to pieces. _

_"Well" She snorted. "Why don't I just save you the pleasantries" Her eyes slipped shut again and with her smirk still in place, she dove toward the shadows. _

"_Kuarkian, No!" Darhutian cried, running toward Kuarkian with an outstretched hand, but it was too late. Kuarkian had already dived toward the shadows and there was nothing he could do…_

_Or was there?_

_With flaming determination, Darhutian's eyes snapped open, and widened at the sight of millions of shadows blindly lunging toward Kuarkian's vulnerable form._

_Darhutian's eyes narrowed and his features hardened. Not again, never again; he was never going to betray a friend's trust ever again._

_With a mighty beat of his sapphire wings, Darhutian lifted off the ground and took flight, gaining altitude at an alarming rate. _

_It didn't take long to reach sufficient altitude and at fifteen meters above ground level, Darhutian began to summon the powers of his crystal._

_Kuarkian stood, petrified, as she watched the millions of shadows flitting through the darkness at incredible speed, beady eyes gleaming with unquenched hunger, lips curled in insane grins, as they continued to make their way toward her, driven by the intoxicating scent of fresh blood._

_She raised her hands to shield herself, as the one in front let out a piercing, un-earthly cry as it lunged toward her, mere meters away._

_She felt a warmth brush over her as a soft, sapphire light radiated through her closed lids and into her line of vision._

_Her breath hitched at the sight of it; it was the most beautiful thing she had even seen and she yearned to see where it had come from._

_Slowly, she lowered her hands, and just before she opened her eyes, a case of paranoia struck her. What if this is a trap? What if this was employed by the shadows as a means to get to me? But the fact that the shadows could easily overwhelm her without any such trap, as well as the realization that something so ugly could not possibly generate something so beautiful was the mace that decided her decision. So, after another brush of the warmth whispered across her cheek, Kuarkian's eyes snapped open and instantly regretted it. _

_Before her, the shadow had stopped dead in its tracks. Its head was tilted slightly upwards with its jaw slacken as a thick, dark fluid slowly oozed from its empty sockets, flowing down the shadows body, and collecting in the puddle that had begun to form at its base._

_Kuarkian watched in horror as the shadow's insides continued to be drained away, as a beautiful, ethereal light cascaded down through the darkness onto its vulnerable form._

_Eventually, all that was left of the shadow was a dark puddle of nothing on the ground, and Kuarkian was free to look up and see what had saved her._

_Her honey gaze met the loving one of Darhutian, who was gazing down at her with a soft smile._

_She felt a small smile creep over her features and tears of happiness suddenly sprang to her eyes. Her friend had saved her. He had not forgotten about her. He had remembered and saved her when she needed him the most._

_She was about to make her way toward him when she felt a ghostly hand plunged into her, holding her in place as small beads of darkness were released that began to latch onto various places and suck the light from her spirit._

"_KUARKIAN, NOOOOOOOO!"_

_Darhutian's head snapped around and he gasped. There was Atemuisme, hovering in mid-air, features a blind mix of sorrow, shock, and confusion as he gazed down at his passed love, limp in a shadow's arms, as it hungrily drained her of what little light remained._

"_Atemuisme, I…"_

_Violet eyes brimming with tears turned to Sapphire. "Darhutian, how…how could you?" he choked out._

"_I…" Sapphire eyes shut helplessly, as a mop of ebony hair fell in his face. "I didn't know what to do…which is logical with the world being on the brink of destruction…" his tone changed to weak amusement as a small smile crept across his face, before vanishing "so many lives were at stake and the logical way to save them was to sacrifice the one for the many, but you and that one fell in love" Darhutian's head raised and he looked at Atemuisme in despair. " it would mean my betraying you to do it, my betraying you to save them."_

_He sighed inaudibly, his eyes slipping shut as his head began to shake back and forth. "I was torn, I didn't know what to do…betray my friend or betray the people I swore to protect…" he choked out, his voice betraying his sadness and despair "It was a mistake, I'm very sorry… but I tried to save her, I really did, there were just too many…" His voice had died down to a whisper by the end._

_Atemuisme slowly tore his eyes away from Darhutian to sadly gaze down at his lost love. Forgetting the other, he slowly drifted down to her side, gathering her in his arms. He hugged her limp body tightly as the tears began to freely fall._

"_Kuarkian" He choked out, his voice cracking "please don't go, please don't leave..." He begged as he clutched her body closer to his, holding it as if it were a life line as his body began to shake "I need you, I'm nothing without you, don't go" He swallowed, clutching her body ever so closer "I love you…" He managed to whisper out before breaking down completely. _

_Darhutian just gazed down helplessly as his friend continued to weep over his fallen love and the life he would lead without her by his side._

'_The events of this day are to unfold once again in the future' a foreboding voice whispered heavily into Darhutian's ear, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end as he whirled around, assuming a defensive stance._

_His stance wavered than fell as he found himself to be entirely alone in the darkening abyss, save for Atemuisme and the dead-form of Kuarkian._

'_What was that?' Darhutian mused, recalling the words that he had heard only mere moments ago._

'_The events of this day are doomed to repeat themselves again in the future'_

_Darhutian was about to ponder the words' meaning when a blood-curdling scream erupted through the deafening silence._

_Darhutian's breath hitched, his body going rigid as his eyes widened in fear. It was happening. The light from Kuarkian's soul was ripping the shadows to pieces and if he and Atemuisme did not leave soon, the darkness would crush them._

_His gaze shakily lowered to Atemuisme and the sight which greeted him made his eyes widen further, the urgency of the matter causing all irrational thoughts to be driven from his mind._

_Atemuisme was still there, meters below, with the dead remains of Kuarkian embraced tightly his arms. Tears were silently rolling down his cheeks as he desperately begged fore her to come back to him, choked out whispers that were barely audible as the color slowly drained away from Kuarkian's face._

_Darhutian felt a pang of guilt over what he was about to do, but he had no choice…the fate of the world rested in his decision. _

_Knowing very well that he was about to betray his friends trust yet again, mere minutes after he had apologized, tore what little self respect he had to pieces._

_It was enough to make him vomit._

_As he lightly hovered in midair, gazing down sadly at the scene before him another nerve-racking screech shattered the silence._

_Darhutian heaved a sad sigh before he closed his eyes. It had to be done…_

_Ignoring the pangs of guilt he could feel gnawing their way through his subconscious, Darhutian's eyes snapped open, a newly-found determination shinning in them, snuffing out all hesitance as he quickly dove to his best friend's side. _

"_Atemuisme," He whispered, clutching his friend's shoulder lightly before gently shaking it. "We have to go now…"_

"_Kuarkian, please," he whispered brokenly as a few stray tears slowly rolled down his cheeks. He had not even noticed the other's presence._

"_Atemuisme," he said softly as he rested each of his hands on the other's shoulders, gently turning him to face him. Seeing the other's head was lowered, Darhutian tenderly placed a finger under his chin before slowly drawing the other's head up to make eye contact._

_Sapphire eyes widened in shock at the unbelievable amounts of pain, anguish, and despair swirling in those violet depths which greeted him. Reminiscence of the past few months washed all shock away, as a small smile graced Darhutian's features. "I know she meant a lot to you…she meant a lot to all of us, but its time to go now…"_

"_Kuarkian," he whispered brokenly, as his eyes slipped shut and another sob racked his form._

"_It's time to go now" _

_Atemuisme clutched Kuarkian impossible tighter, as he buried his face into the crook of his neck, his body trembling as a trail of moisture slowly trickled its way down her neck._

"_Atemuisme, we have to go now or it will be too late…and," He sighed "We must leave Kuarkian behind…it is the only way for the shadows to be truly destroyed…"_

_Violet eyes snapped up to his unbelievingly, but seeing the grave look on the other's face, new tears sprang to Atemuisme's eyes before closing as his form began to shake uncontrollably, clutching the limp body of his dead love ever so closely. _

Catching the unbelieving expression on the other's face before his head lowered and new sobs racked the other's body, Darhutian heaved another sad, helpless sigh before returning his gaze to his friend. "Atemuisme, you know it's what must be done. In order for the shadows to be destroyed thoroughly, all of Kuarkian must be sacrificed and that means her body too" the last few words were a whisper as Darhutian's gaze lowered to the ground, unable to look at his friend any longer.

"I know" was the whispered reply, slightly muffled as Atemuisme still had his head significantly lodged in the crook of Kuarkian's neck. "I just don't know how I am ever going to live on…I have nothing else to live for; Kuarkian's gone," the last words were in a jumbled rush, Atemuisme's voice cracking, as a fresh onslaught of sobs boiled up and racked their way through his body.

"Shhhhhh," Darhutian soothed, placing a hand on Atemuisme's back before rubbing softly, trying to calm his distressed friend. "I know that loosing Kuarkian was a great loss for you, but she wanted to go and she is probably in a much better place right now, devoid of any darkness"

He mentally kicked himself for that one, but his mental musings were not betrayed by his expression as he continued to look at his friend with a reassuring smile on his face.

New-found hope rose out of the depths of pain, despair, and anguish, as Atemuisme turned his head up and gazed into Darhutian's sapphire orbs, features contorting with happiness.

Darhutian mentally winced, as he felt the pangs of gilt stabbing relentlessly into his subconscious. He had done it again, betrayed his friend by lying to him when he expected the truth. Now, just seeing Atemuisme's eyes shinning with a hope for a fact that not even Darhutian believed was possible was enough to drive him mad.

Tearing his eyes away from Atemuisme, Darhutian turned his back on the other and sighed. "Come on Atemuisme. Let's go."

Taking his eyes away from the retreating form of the other, Atemuisme instead settled his gaze on the limp girl in his arms. A sob escaped him as he took in the state of his once beautiful and lively love.

Her flowing, snowy locks, once so full of body, were reduced to hanging limply around her beautiful, paling face. Lines of unrest marred her beautiful features, as beads of dried sweat lingered over some areas of her rapidly cooling skin. Atemuisme's sorrowful gaze landed last on Kuarkian's closed eyelids and he was struck with the sudden urge to see Kuarkian's beautiful, honey eyes one last time before they would be separated forever, he pushed it aside, gently shaking his head sadly before opening his eyes for his gaze to settle on Kuarkian's petal-soft lips.

Atemuisme leaned down and planted a gentle kiss on Kuarkian's soft lips, holding the sides of her face in place, as he drank the kiss in, his eyes closing tightly before a sob escaping his throat ruined it and he was forced to retract, whispering a rushed "I love you, Kuarkian," quickly laying her down on the ground, before taking off after Darhutian.

Once he had caught up to his friend, on the order between the shadow world and the real world, Darhutian turned to him grimly, features not betraying anything of his inner thoughts. "Kuarkian didn't want to be sacrificed," he murmured lowly before turning away again, not able to bear looking at the expression he knew his friend was bearing.

"What?" Atemuisme began, his voice clearly how distraught he was. The other remained silent.

Atemuisme's eyes widened "Kuarkian!" he shouted as he whirled around, intent on going back and saving his lost love's body. However, the sight and sound which greeted him made him freeze in his tracks.

The darkness was imploding, slowly crushing all shadows which resided there as they let out their final cries, the light Kuarkian's soul had infected them with sweeping through their beings like a plague.

Unbelievable sorrow filled Atemuisme's violet eyes as he watched in a state of shocked denial at the scene unfolding before him.

"Kuarkian," he whispered as his knees gave way under him, suddenly feeling extremely weak. He unconsciously put out a hand to break his fall as he continued to stare in disbelief out into the darkness.

"Atemuisme," he felt a hand fall lightly on his shoulder. The touch momentarily snapping him back into reality, Atemuisme shakily brought his gaze up to look detachedly into the somber face of  
Darhutian.

"We have to go"

Slowly tearing his eyes away from the other, Atemuisme gazed out one last time into the darkness, before he felt to strong arms lifting him to his feet.

Leading his friend away, Darhutian looked back into the darkness and the place where he felt that eerie voice whisper those words that still had him puzzled.

'_The events of this day are doomed to play out again in the future'_

Shaking the foreboding feeling that the repeated words brought with them off, Darhutian turned his head back around and wrapped a wing securely around the other's shaking form, pressing Atemuisme closer to himself, as he ensured that all view of what was happening behind them was hidden from Atemuisme's view.

He would ponder the words' meanings later.

_With the plans successful completion, came the end to the time of the seven Draconians, the bearers of the seven stones settling back into everyday society as their stones were locked away. _

_As the generations past, the stones were past down, their secrets being revealed to the most worthy of all their offspring as the tale of their existence past into myth and piece reigned over the world once again._

_This was the case until five centuries later, with __the tale of the great battle of the shadow having_

_been told time and time again, when creatures greatly resembling those of the prophesized shadows had begun emerging across the globe, disturbing the peace and arousing the Draconians into action. The Draconians now numbering within the hundreds, all save the seven true Draconians whose souls continued to stay bonded to those of the seven Dragons of Yore, were bonded to the souls of the numerous offspring of Huarta, the only female Dragon of Yore. Now, in a time of rising suspicions, the Draconians, led by the descendent of Atemuisme, face a bout that will not only cascade the prince down a road that will have him wondering if their truly is a heaven on Earth, but whose result will hold the fate of the world in its balance..._

A creature of dragon and shadow lay veiled atop a parapet, hidden within night's protective embrace, as he crouched low and observed the scene unraveling before him. Down below, within the depths of the alleyway, shadows were slowly emerging. Thick, soulless beings, manifesting themselves at the base of the opposite wall, before steadily making their way up the tall structure and swallowing it whole.

A low growl pierced the deafening silence.

**_The Iorta have some nerve showing their vile faces here. _**

Crimson eyes narrowed as the shadows continued their feast, foolishly expanding their grasps across the alleyway, completely ignorant towards the fact of their being watched.

**_You would have thought they'd have learned from our last encounter ... _****_  
_**  
Turning his attention back, just as the shadows reached the furthest reaches of the alley, crimson eyes flared, only to die down seconds later when a smirk became placed across his features.

**_Hmmm...Apparently it is time for me to refresh their memory on what happens when one defies my wishes... _******

Task realized, the creature arose from his crouch, rising to his full height, looking down upon the Iorta as they continued to blindly feed their way to the street, with deep ruby eyes.

Beams of moonlight danced across a pair of outstretched wings. Wings which bore an air of menace as the moon's rays hit them at odd angles, bouncing off their leathery surfaces, causing the scarlet surfaces of the scales decorating them to shine with an intense brilliance.

Challenging the rough texture of the creature's wings was the leather which bound him.

Leather clung possessively to the creature's legs, highlighting their accents as they steadily roamed up them, only to end at the creature's waist, where a few belts hung half-hazardly.

Harmlessly dangling from these belts' depths were two golden-clad sheaths. Sheaths that held something much more lethal, as the pair of golden-rimmed sabers they held proved, glinting mischievously as rogue beams of moonlight penetrated their shiny surfaces, cascading them back into the night, broken shards of a lost power.

The creature's torso was clad in a material between that of leather and dragon hide, stretching up around his waist line, where his prime defenses lay, up over his taunt stomach, only to arrive at his breast, where the material changed from that of a leather-dragon mixture, to that of pure dragon hide. Resting atop this area, hanging from a delicate string, lay a crystalline stone, shining with all the intrepid brilliance a dragon's flame had to offer.

Crimson orbs peaked out from under a crown of black, blond, and ebony, eyes shimmering with a wisdom reaching far beyond the creature's years, as he continued to gaze down upon the beings of shadow snaking their way onto the street, slithering around any light sources that barricaded their path.

'Just as I thought...vile' the creature mused, his lip curing, as the smirk covering his face grew in intensity.

Just then, a high-pitched cry erupted from the depths of the night. Resonating through the deserted alleyways and streets of the city, the strangled sound tore the peaceful atmosphere that had existed before to pieces, as it slowly died away to leave a tense atmosphere in its wake.

The Draconian froze, all color draining from his face, as the final chords of the sound died away completely. Something had happened.

His ruby eyes slowly filled with dread, as they tentatively tore themselves away from the now stationary shadows and instead in the direction from which the cry had originated. He gasped.

There, in a garbage dumpster, was a young girl, sprawled across the many garbage bags, severely bleeding.

Realizing the urgency in the matter, the Draconian forgot the mass of shadows and ran along the parapet, swooping down beside the dumpster to study the figure more thoroughly.

She was only a couple of years younger than himself, seventeen by the looks of it. Her tousled auburn hair was a tangled mess caked with dry blood and perspiration. New blood seeped into her hair from a stream flowing freely from an open gash over her right eyebrow.

Numerous other bruises plagued her vulnerable form, clearly visible through the tattered remains of what had once been her baby blue dress.

The Draconian's eyes filled with sorrow as they took in the poor girl's beaten form, finally drifting up to her face that was contorted in pain as her chest shakily rose and fell with each ragged breath.

"Funny how my shadows work"

The Draconian whirled around, his features hardening, as he peered through the darkness and saw a figure leisurely leaning against the wall behind him, his arms folded across his chest, as one of his feet rested upon the back wall while the other propped him up from its resting place on the ground.

The Draconian assumed a defensive stance. He had had many run-ins with the leader of the shadows and he wasn't about to let his guard down even if the other had.

"I mean really. One moment they are harmlessly manifesting themselves in the alleyway behind me" He jerked his thumb backwards toward the shadowed alleyway. "And the next, some leave without your knowledge, teleporting themselves into the bodies of some local thugs and beating up a poor, innocent girl" The figure raised an outstretched hand toward the crumpled girl in the dumpster.

The figure pushed himself up off the wall and slowly began making his way toward the alert Draconian, lilac eyes gleaming through the darkness.

Stepping out from the buildings shadow and into the flood of light coming from a nearby streetlamp, the figure shifted his weight to his right leg, resting a hand on his jutted out hip, as he regarded the other's defensive stance with a smirk.

"What exactly are you trying to pull Draconian? We already know what the result would be of an all out assault" His smirk widened. "I would reign victorious once again, after kicking your sorry ass to Kingdom Come.

The Draconian growled lowly in his throat as he glared daggers at the other, holding himself back from doing anything rash; he had to get the girl medical help and fast.

The figure slowly began to approach the Draconian, his hands clasped behind his back, as his lilac eyes roamed up and down the other, studying his stiff form with a smug look on his face.

Lilac locked with crimson. "What's the matter?" He drawled. "To much of a coward to stand up and face me?" His eyes gleamed sadistically, as the Draconian's eyes burned with fury.

He smirked "I guess so" The figure turned around, showing the Draconian his back as he slowly began to make his way back to the alleyway. A spark across his senses, informed him of an incoming energy ball, and he spun around, quickly raising a hand to intercept it, stopping the ball in its tracks.

"I don't think so" He sneered before hurtling the ball back towards the Draconian with a swift motion of his hand.

The Draconian growled as he saw the ball winding its way back toward him. This was not what he had expected to happen, the ball was supposed to hit the other and shut his face up, not be redirected at him.

Still growling, his features hardened further and he quickly jumped atop the parapet of the building behind him to avoid the blast. Out of the line of fire, the Draconian gracefully sank to a kneel and looked back over his shoulder at the other.

He growled lowly in his throat. The other was looking at him smugly, his lip set in a knowing smirk as he stood there in the threshold of the alley with his right hip jutted out and his arms folded neatly across his chest.

'What's the matter Draconian?' he taunted, 'too fast for you?' he finished, his lip curling further.

The Draconian bit himself back. He couldn't let the other get the better of him; if he let his anger out now, the bastard would just use it to his advantage and that was a price he was not willing to make, especially with the injured girl still in the dumpster.

Keeping one eye glued warily to the other, he stole a quick glance down into the dumpster at the frail figure that still occupied it. The girl was still breathing, though raggedly. Her chest was slowly rising and falling, shakily inhaling the much-needed air that was needed in able to support her system.

His gaze softened as he looked down at her, the rage flaming in his crimson pools simmering down to mere embers, as he sorrowfully looked down at her battered form. The more his eyes took in, the harder he found it to look at her. The knowledge that people had done this to her, people of the same species that he had willingly vowed to protect, was unbearable. The knowledge cut deep into his being, piercing deeper than any man-made object ever could, as it reduced his faith in mankind to dust. The sorrow of it gripped his heart.

Freeing his eyes from their lingering spot on her face where pain had caused lines of stress to mar her beautiful features, he slowly let his gaze fall to her right hand where something gold could just be seen, glimmering in the wash of light which emanated from the street light.

About to descend to her level, a snide voice cut through his senses and brought him back to reality. Embers exploding into life, he hastily rose from his kneel, and spun around to face the other, his eyes shooting from the girl in the dumpster to the figure that stood in the threshold of the alley.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" the figure asked, his eyes shinning maniacally, as he gestured toward the girl with a smooth swipe of his hand. "A worthy addition she will make to my list of victims," he added with a sneer.

Eyes narrowing considerably, the Draconian glared at the other, a low, deadly growl escaping that was just tangible over the girl's incessant wheezing.

"I would like to see you try," he challenged, his words coming out in a hiss, as he stood in the sky's darkened silhouette, shaking in rage.

The figure shifted his weight to his left leg, his hip jutting out, as he brandished the Draconian with a defiant smirk. "That's a challenge I will willingly accept."

And with a malicious glint in his eyes, the figure abandoned his standstill and began sprinting at the wall where the Draconian stood. Seeing the other's obvious path, the Draconian quickly jumped up and became air-born with a mighty flap of his leathery wings. Knowing perfectly well the other's intentions, he began sending multitudes of crimson-ringed, dark matter balls thwarting at the other, which to his great annoyance, vainly swirled through the air, before exploding in the place where the other had been mere moments earlier before teleporting.

Growling, he watched as the other disappeared randomly, reappearing in a spot two meters to the right of left of where the ball had destructed mere moments later, with a knowing smirk plastered to his features. Getting sick of the arrogant bastard's antics, he let out a deadly growl, before sending a ball tearing at the other. Seeing the glint of sick amusement shinning in the other's eyes, he drew his two sabers in one swift motion, and pointed each of their tips at a spot two meters to the left and right of where the ball was going to hit, before bringing them back into his chest, and swiping them in a fierce motion back out to his sides.

Four balls were sent hurtling through the air at their aimed spots where the other, proving the Draconian right, had teleported himself a mere second later. Seeing the other's smirk wiped clean as he looked wide eyed at the balls that were tearing toward him, the Draconian smirked.

Tearing his eyes away from the balls heading straight for him to look back at the Draconian, he snarled at seeing his smirk.

It only broadened, as the Draconian looked over at him smugly, before he disappeared into a cloud of dust, as the balls finished winding in between each other to strike him, two at either side.

The Draconian slowly drifted back down to the ledge, keeping his eyes glued to the other's unmoving form sprawled across the ground. After his feet at gently connected with the ground, he flapped his wings gently, before folding them neatly behind him.

A frown stole across his features, as he silently continued to look at his adversary's unmoving form.

'_**He couldn't possible have fallen unconscious after a small blow like that'**_

Deciding to check it out, the Draconian tore his crimson eyes away from the other to look down at the small, fire-colored jewel that was resting against his chest. He timidly brought an armored hand, flagged by dragon-hide, up to finger the small jewel. Slowly bringing up his other hand, he firmly held the top of the jewel, before he delicately twisted the crystal in its holder two rotations to the left and watched as his leathery wings faded away to leave his appearance equal to that of a human, minus the exterior.

Checking fully that his wings had dissolved away by looking quickly over his left and right shoulders, the Draconian returned his gaze to the figure sprawled across the ground below him, before gracefully walking along the building's edge until he was directly above the dumpster and jumping down and landing atop the dumpster's edge skillfully.

Rising up smoothly while keeping an air of caution, the Draconian kept his eyes glued to the other, before he launched off the dumpster and turned gracefully over in the air, landing in a crouch with his eyes set forward at the man in front of him.

Roaming his eyes once over the other, he realized he still hadn't stirred, and cautiously began to set forward, his forearms reaching forward and dragging him along, along with his knees, as his hips swayed gracefully behind him.

Once he was a few meters away and had figured he had reached a safe distance, the Draconian pushed himself up, centering his weight onto his knees, before he stood and his gaze returned to the person in front of him.

Seeing no change, the Draconian cautiously began to creep forward. Once he had reached the other's side, he warily brought one of his feet forward and gingerly nudged the other's side. Seeing no change, he nudged the other a bit harder.

Still no change.

Even if the other appeared to be unconscious he was not going to let his guard down; he knew exactly how cunning the leader of the shadows could be. Keeping a wary eye on him, he quickly brought his foot under the other, and rapidly turned him over, before jumping back with his sabers drawn.

His hardened features were immediately washed away as a startled one graced them. The figure in front of him was still motionless, his eyes closed and his features relaxed, as his mouth was set in a small 'o.'

His sabers lowered, as he looked at the other disbelievingly.

'_**It can't be…he couldn't possibly have fallen after something like that'**_

Eyes roaming over the figure, he continued to stand in disbelievingly, only meters away.

'**_How could he have fallen so easily?'_** the Draconian subconsciously asked himself as he continued to survey the other. **_'He never has before'_**

Taking one last look over the figure, the Draconian brushed it off

'**_Well I'm not going to question it now,'_** he mused, as he returned his sabers back into his belt. **'Whatever it was that weakened him, I'm grateful'**

And with one last glance at the other, he turned and began to make his way back toward the dumpster and the girl that still occupied it.

He didn't notice however the figure slowly creeping up behind him, brandishing a large knife. That was until a flash across his senses informed him and sent him whirling around just in time for him to jump aside to miss a large knife that needless to say would currently have been lodged in his back if he hadn't seen it.

Looking at the knife, terrified, he rapidly brought a knee up to strike his adversary's knifed hand, successfully causing the other to release the knife as he brought his other hand up and clutched his wrist where the Draconian had struck him, hissing.

Getting over the shock of the other fooling him so successfully, the Draconian let himself fall down to the ground, before swiping a leg around and bringing the other down onto the ground beside him.

Using his vulnerable state to his advantage, the Draconian drew his sabers and jumped up only to cover the few meters separating him and the other, dropping over him as soon as he was reached. With one knee on either side of him, the Draconian brought his sabers up quickly, and crossed them lethally across the other's throat as he glared daggers down at him.

He just simply laughed before smirking up at him.

"Are you really going to kill me?" the other asked, his disbelief shinning in every word spoken.

Seeing the other's glare harden as well as feel the other's grip tighten on the sabers as they gently dug into the sides of his throat, his smirk broadened.

"I didn't think so," he sneered. "You're harmless when it comes to that. You couldn't bring yourself to harm a hair on my head, especially after I tell you the truth and the knowledge that accompanies it"

"Knowledge?" the Draconian asked himself, his features softening momentarily before hardening again, as he increased the pressure on the other's throat. "What knowledge!" he demanded.

The other just chuckled dryly before continuing. "That if you kill me, I will descend into darkness. That if you kill me, my shadows will fuel me and supply me with infinite power. That if you kill me," he smirked "I will come back, stronger than ever, and you will never be able to save the countless disgusting humans that you have vowed to protect," his eyes shifted to the girl in the dumpster "including that one over there." His gaze shifted back onto the Draconian who had gone starkly pale. "It's your choice, but if you kill me, I will make sure that all of your attempts to save her will fail."

Slowly, the Draconian drew his sabers away from the other's throat, looking down disbelievingly at him as he shook his head from side to side.

'**_He wouldn't…would he?'_**

Looking down at the figure below him and the seriousness that was marred in his features, the Draconian's eyes widened before he slowly got up and began backing away from the other, shaking his head with every step.

The figure simply jumped up onto his heels, before rising to his full height, once again assuming his arrogant stance with his hip jutted out, as he smirked at him.

"What's the matter?" he drawled. "I thought you would be happy."

His smirk grew before he gestured around with a simple wave of his hand, as he started to walk toward the Draconian. "It was apparent to me that you have selfishly been quenching your thirst to satisfy your need to reimburse your lost pride by battling me here instead of saving her," he motioned toward the dumpster. "Have you not?"

The Draconian only continued to shake his head disbelievingly, as he backed away from the other, severely unnerved by the other's recent attitude.

Feeling his back hit the edge of the dumpster, the Draconian quickly glanced back into the dumpster only to see that the girl had fallen unconscious, thankfully, still breathing.

Looking back in front of him, he unhappily saw that his adversary was only ten meters away and closing, walking toward him at a comfortable pace with his hips swaying gently and a smug smirk plastered to his features.

His eyes never leaving the other, his mind began to whirl in the effort of formulating a plan that would ensure his, as well as the girl's departure. Eyes scanning the various ideas that flitted across his minds inner eye, the Draconian unconsciously reached behind himself with both hands and tightly began to grasp the edge of the dumpster behind him.

Unconsciously registering the other's nearness, the Draconian's sights fell on the one idea that would ensure his and the girl's safety, and the fogginess that had clouded over his eyes cleared as he glanced behind him to see his hand's position on the dumpster.

Deciding to use this to his advantage, he tightened his hold on the dumpster, before kicking up off the ground and letting his body sail over his hands backwards as he used them to ground him. Skillfully letting go at the precise moment, the Draconian gracefully sunk to a kneel on the back edge of the dumpster, as he used his right hand to steady himself.

"Quick thinking," the other praised, the effects of it washing away through a sneer. "I always thought Draconians weren't quick on their feet," he looked at him maniacally as his sneer broadened into an insane grin.

"Stay back," the Draconian warned as he slowly stooped down to gather the girl into his arms, his eyes not leaving the other for an instant. "Or I will be forced to hurt you."

"You wouldn't hurt me," he sneered. "If you hurt me, I will come back and hurt her as well." His fierce lilac eyes turned momentarily to the girl in his arms, before returning to the Draconian. A maddening glint entered them, as he saw that the little bit of color that had entered the Draconians face had drained away completely.

"Or maybe," he pondered, his lip curling into an insane grin, "I will just put her out of her misery right now." He lengthened his stride and continued to make his way toward the frozen Draconian and the limp girl hanging in his arms. "Yes, I think I'll do that," he stated as he broke into a light jog.

The Draconian, not knowing what else to do, spun around and leaned over so he could reach the small crystal dangling off his neck. Quickly reaching up with his right hand, he caught the crystal around the middle, and brought his other hand up to clasp the top. Without hesitation, he quickly snapped the crystal back to rotations to the right.

Not waiting for his wings to fully materialize, he quickly tossed the girl over his shoulder, and began to scale the wall. Once he had reached the top, he briskly pulled himself and the girl up, and thrust off the edge, as he spread his wings.

A maniacal laugh followed them, as the Draconian desperately beat his wings to get as far away from his adversary as possible. "It won't work Draconian, where ever you go, I will find you."

And without looking back, the Draconian continued to beat his wings, sailing through the peaceful night air with the limp girl clutched close to him, as he flew over the darkened silhouettes of the buildings under him into the horizon.

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_There ya go, first chapter done._

_Thanks for readin' and please R&R!_


	2. the two sides of lilac

Oh I'm so sorry for the long wait you all had to endure. My mind's just stupid, I couldn't get any of my thoughts focussed. I promise that the next chapter will be up in a shorter period of time.

Yami: I'm sure that'll happen (sarcastic)

Me: Yes it will -completely oblivious- strikes hey!

Yami: -snickers and runs behind Yuugi-

Hey don't use him for your protection! Besides...-looks all loved- we all know Yuugi is on my side-

Yugi: That's what she thinks -mutters to Yami who continues snickering-

Me: -looks incredulous- did Yuugi actually say that?

Yami: Snickers and runs away with Yugi.

Me: -turns toward audience looking incredulous- I can't believe he just said that

-So shocked she holds up a sign with disclaimer scribbled across it-

'I do not own Yugioh, theyare strictly the property of Kazuki Takahashi.If I did own Yugioh Yugi and Yami, along with all the other Yami/hikari pairings, would be confessing their undying love for eachother and there would be major fluff fests cheers yay fluff.'However, in saying this, this story and its contents belong solely to me.

-Looks back in irritation- And I am really wondering if I should be nice to Yugi right now (ponders) Maybe I can keep him away from Yami.

Yugi -cries- NOOOO!

Me: -smirks triumphantly

Well on with the story!

"..." characters talking

'...' characters thinking

Soft crimson eyes, clouded over by sadness, gazed down at the young girl in his lap quietly.

He didn't know what to do. He had attempted to heal the girl's wounds after just barely escaping his crazed arch rival's rampage, but the shadows' presence in her system was making it impossible to do anything but sit here and wait for the effects to dissipate.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, the Draconian detachedly ran an armored hand through his tousled, silky locks before turning his crimson eyes up toward the darkened night sky to gaze helplessly up into the heavens.

'What am I to do?' he mused helplessly to himself as his sorrow-filled ruby eyes wandered across the skies, as if expecting to see an answer written in the stars.

Seeing nothing, the Draconian shook his head sadly from side to side as small streamlets of tears began to make their way past his closed.

'I can't let it happen again, I just can't…'

Feeling the familiar prodding of the suppressed memories trying to invade the corridors of his mind, the Draconian let out a strangled yell and desperately grasped the sides of his head and began shaking it violently from side to side, determined to rid it of the images that were flashing through his mind at random intervals.

"I won't go back there, not again…not ever again" he whispered out, his eyes clenched tightly as rivers of tears continued to stream from his clenched lids and his voice shook uncontrollably. A particular nasty one caused him to let out a slight whimper as he shied into himself, enveloping the girl closer to himself for comfort.

'Why does this have to happen to me?' He asked himself as silent tears trailed from his lidded eyes. 'Can't it happen to someone who doesn't have as many problems as I do?'

A large gust of wind brought him out of his reverie and with red rimmed ruby eyes, brimmed with tears, he shakily gazed up into a pair of soft lilac eyes, owned by none other than Huarta, the Dragon Princess.

"What is it my child?" she asked in a gently soothing voice, her lilac jewels sparkling as she gazed down softly into the deeply-troubled crimson eyes that she had loved and cherished so long.

Silence greeted her, but she smiled none-the-less.

A bit of his unease was washing away from her presence and for that she was glad.

The Dragon smiled lovingly down at him, her soft eyes continuing to sparkle, as she spoke again in that same voice that was so devoid of anything even near the usual deep rumble that her brothers' were famous for. "What is it? I'm sure I can fix the problem if you tell me?"

Feeling a bit more of his unease wash away with her presence, he gently shook his head, before sighing and looking away from her. "It's nothing."

Feeling her concerning gaze on his back, trying to make out what was wrong, he trailed his eyes trailed away into the distance and continued. "Nothing I can't handle…besides," his eyes trailed back and he gazed at her somberly "I am not even your responsibility. The Dragon that I am bonded to is not one of your sons."

Gazing down at him sadly, she had the sudden urge to study the emotion swirling within those beautiful ruby depths, but found it impossible as his gaze was fixed to the ground. She shook her large turquoise head and let out a sad sigh, before continuing, her eyes silently gazing down at the same spot.

"Even though, Prince, I care for you just as much as I do any of my other children bonded to my sons and daughters" She tore her gaze away from the ground and their gazes locked. "The fact that you are bonded to my eldest brother doesn't change that," she finished quietly, her lilac eyes studying his frozen features.

His eyes widened in shock before softening and drifting back down to their normal size and closing. He sighed. "Even so," his eyes opened back up again and he gazed down softly at a spot two feet in front of him. "…I'm the prince…," his eyes closed sadly. "I have to do everything alone…"

Huarta's breath hitched as she felt the pain imbedded in each and every one of the prince's words wash over her. Feeling the pain wash over her very heart, she brought up a leathery, taloned hand and rested it across the left side of her breast.

'That pain…'

Even though she had felt a great deal of pain over the course of her lifetime, most of it around the time of the last war, it had been a long time since she had felt anything even close to the degree of pain that she felt radiating off of the young prince.

It was a pain that anchored to his very soul.

Taking her taloned hand away from her breast, she momentarily let it linger in the air, before resting it firmly on the ground. Bringing her eyes back up, she mentally flinched at seeing soft tears trickling down the sharp sides of his face. Undoubtedly slipping from the prince's eyes when he thought she was too lost in thoughts to notice.

"Prince, please tell me what is bothering you, it pains me to see you like this…"

"It's nothing," he muttered, quickly wiping the evidence of his tears away. He looked up at her with passive crimson orbs, darkened as if trying to mask the pain that was swelling within his being. "Nothing," he continued, averting his gaze. "Nothing I can't handle," he repeated, gathering the girl into his arms and standing, lifting her up bridle style as he turned away.

"Prince, if this is about what happened a couple of months ago, I understand, but you can't keep blocking out everyone; it wasn't your fault."

"I said," he looked back over his shoulder at her, his gaze a bit harder, "that it was nothing."

"From what I can tell, it's not nothing," she continued gently, her eyes gazing down softly into his hardened crimson ones, as she all but forgot the hard tone he had used.

He whirled around fully on her and his features hardened considerably. "If I were you," he started slowly, "I would watch what I say," he continued, his narrowed eyes boring into hers "especially if it was something as smart as that," he finished, his baritone voice, dripping with menace, lowered and deadly, as he regarded the other through slit ruby orbs.

"Prince, I wasn't trying to be smart," she sighed, as her eyes left him for a second to linger on the ground, before she brought up a clawed hand and ran it smoothly up his soft face until a tear that had unknowably slipped out of the prince's right eye had collected on her fore-talon.

She withdrew her hand away from the prince's shocked face and let it fall perpendicular to the ground, letting the small tear trickle silently down her hooked talon until it had collected at its tip.

Seeing the small bead of moisture become heavy and fall, she quickly swiped a hand out under it and sent a wave of magic hurtling upwards so that the tear froze in midair.

Regarding the prince's shocked expression with a soft smile, Huarta gestured toward the small tear that was presently dangling in midair.

"A tear," she started, "can be something of the light and the dark."

She turned away from him and gestured toward the city's darkened silhouette.

"It can be experienced by all creatures, of the light and the dark."

She turned back toward the prince and gazed down at him through a set of sparkling lilac eyes.

"And most of all… it can be something used to express true happiness, or true pain."

She regarded him with another soft smile.

"It is up to its holder what it is used for," she finished, her large, lilac eyes sparkling majestically as the rogue beams of moonlight that had just escaped the cloud's cover passed over her and illuminated her large form.

"You mean…" His eyes drifted away from the dragon's to gaze down into the soft face of the girl slumped in his arms. "…That if I want to change how I'm feeling, I have to do it myself by my own choices?"

His gaze left the girl's face to peer up into sparkling violet questioningly.

"Is that what you mean?"

She smiled gently down at him. "That, you will have to figure out on your own," she responded softly, her gaze holding nothing but love for the Draconian in front of her, as she lightly beat her wings and lifted off the surface of the building.

"But how am I ever supposed to know that I know if you don't tell me?" he called after her, disposing of the girl on the surface of the building, before running across its hard surface, trying desperately to reach her as every mighty flap of her wings sent her another five meters out of reach.

"The moment you know is the moment your life changes forever…"

And she was gone.

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Across town, in a darkened alleyway, shadows were manifesting themselves at the bottom of a wall, hungrily eating away at the bricked partition, before roaming up and widening to leave space for a darkened, shadow entranceway to form.

A single boot emerged out of the pool of swirling shadows, followed by a leg, than an arm, than a shoulder, until an entire body had emerged and the shadowy entranceway had faded back to nothing more than an ordinary wall.

A pair of unfeeling lilac eyes slowly roamed the expanse of the alleyway, before a sneer twisted its way across his features.

He couldn't believe their so called 'prince.' He had done it again.

Like all other confrontations, he had run away. Run away in the heat of the battle when they finally could have reached a deciding factor on the battle at hand.

What made it even more despicable was that he ran away when a shift in power had become apparent.

The very thought of those wretched Draconians looking up to this 'one', the one that they had come to call 'The Chosen One,' the one believed to be destined to finally end the threat of the shadows and fulfill the prophecy, was just pitiful.

Even he, the enemy, could recognize that.

From what he could tell from his frequent run-ins with the leader of the Draconians, the other was breaking. From what he did not know, but he was definitely breaking.

His soul was in jeopardy and the Draconians, too lost in their vision of him being the salvation that they have been waiting for, could not see it.

The maniacal grin that had become etched across his face during his reverie faltered a little.

But even so…even if he was his mortal enemy, he felt a shred of compassion for the other leader, even if it was only minuscule.

Letting out a small sigh, the figure started walking along the alleyway, unconsciously dragging a hand across the bricked surface, as he surveyed the ground in front of him and continued with his reverie.

How they couldn't see it, he really did not know, but with them being so caught up in trying to protect the useless mortals, he wouldn't be surprised of the number of things that had already slipped past them unnoticed by them since the arisal of his shadows.

Reaching the end of the alleyway, he stopped abruptly when something new struck him. It had only been a small thought, hitting him so fast that he felt like he had been hit by a freight train, but it had definitely gotten the point across.

Oh, he could definitely use this to his advantage. With this statement, a sick grin crept its way across his features and glints of insanity could be seen bubbling their way up in his harsh lilac pools.

Oh yes, definitely to his advantage.

Even if he did feel a shred of compassion for the other leader, that didn't stop him from hmmm…let's say…taking advantage of the present situation, now did it?

And with that, a maniacal grin became placed on his features and he stalked out into the night.

Oh wow, another chappie done -grins- And it only took me two months...

Yami: Only

Yami-Gives Yami warning look-

Yami: -shees behind Yugi-

Well, anyway I would like to give a special thanks to Angel's Charm and Mikazuki Hime for adding me to their favorites list (huggles) love you guys. And I would like to thank Hikari Skysong and all the other Anonymous reviewers who reviewed. I would also like to appologize to every anonymous reviewer who reviewed my story because their reviews did not get through. (Bows head in embarrasement) I was blocking them without knowing.

But please review! It gives me inspiration to write and therefore chapters get posted faster. I only got one review for my first chapter (signed at least) of a Dragon's Heart, which was also my very first fanfic on so please be nice and review -looks on desperately- it would make me feel so loved.

-grins- I hope ya all liked it and the plot will only get more interesting -looks at Yami and Yugi before winkingsuggestfully at audience-

Yugi- huh?

Yami -pales-

Hehe cha cha for now (winks) And don't forget to review!


	3. Revival and Fall 1

Another chappie for all of you! I humbly appologize for the lateness! My ideas were all over the place!

Now, for the rushed disclaimer

I do not own Yugioh. If I do there would be major fluff session and lawyers wouldn't exist! So don't sue!

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'bla' thoughts

"blabla" speach

(A/N) Annoying author notes

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**Dragon's Heart**

Cascading down through the thick, overhanging canopy of leaves, the silvery threads of luminescent moonlight spilled over the midnight blue surface of the forest pool, causing the water to shimmer as it danced and rippled under the moon's gentle touch.

A light breeze flowed through the serene forest clearing, drifting out over the gently shimmering waters and trailing soft patterns across the gently rippling surface, before gliding up into the thick, overhanging foliage of the deep forest canopy.

Moist leaves flowed in the gentle breeze, the small beads of moisture collected on their velvety surfaces slowly trickling down over their soft pelt to collect at their edge to fall off mere moments later when the brink of the weight was too much for the leaf to handle. Dripping down from leaf to leaf, the beads made their way down through the thick foliage of the forest canopy, flowing from velvety pelt to velvety pelt, until they had finally reached the lowest layer of the leaves that decorated the canopy.

Seeing the gently swelling waters lapping up at them, the beads let gravity overcome them and they fell to the shimmering waters of the pool below, gentle ripples spreading in their wake as they contacted with the wet surface.

The faint ripples spread out to the far reaches of the pool where the midnight blue waters lapped quietly, a spray of moisture spurting tiny beads of water over the lush blades of grass that grew up in large tufts at the pool's edge.

A pair of ruby eyes, filled to the brink with determination, tried once again to peer through the eluding expanse of forest pool into waters that were alight with the glimmer of awakened forest magics and concealing the one thing he needed above all others.

It had been here the ancients brought their wounded and submitted them to the replenishing waters of the Sa'da-el. Here that the people of old had surrendered their rapidly cooling bodies to the miraculous healing touch of the pools depths, the brunt and seriousness of the raging battle's tribute being washed away as lacerated flesh beaten and bruised healed on contact.

But, the battle had ended along with the time it had been of. The pool's power was sealed away. The tiny shards of brilliance that littered the bottom of the forest pool in luminescent azure crystals came dependent on their successful retainment of the ancient power needed for healing purposes. A protective barrier was thrown across it, power of the ancients and ocean magics melding to protect the vast power that lay beneath.

That had been centuries ago, millennia if you wanted to be precise, but the protective spell that was cast all those years ago was just as powerful today as it was back then.

The prince knew that it had been cast for very good reasons, understood it greatly, but that didn't necessarily stop him from silently considering just lifting it so that he wouldn't have to go through all the trouble that he knew he would have to go through otherwise to save the beautiful girl.

Retrieving that stupid stone sure was going to be a pain in the ass.

Feeling his vision about to blur once again, the Draconian vigorously shook his head from side to side to wade off the fogginess that was clouding over his mind due to hours and hours of sleep deprivation.

'**_I must find it.'_**

With resolve flaring in mind and heart, narrowed ruby turned down to squint into gentle waters dancing with moon's breathtaking radiance.

'**There is no other way to heal her and, due to the unfortunate barrier that's had its hold on this pool for the past few millennia, I'll have to do something that any other time would have been out of the question. **

Realizing his train of thought was straying in a direction that he didn't want let alone have time for, the prince gave his thoughts a violent shove in the right direction.

'**However, before I do anything, that includes this irrelevant banter, I HAVE TO FIND THAT STONE!'**

Crimson rubies already trained down hard on a surface of glimmering radiance as they stubbornly sought out the one thing they desired laced subtly with ties of frustrated exasperation.

He had already been here for the same god damn reason not long ago and the wretched pool was giving him the same trouble now as it was than. As much as he didn't want to admit it, the blatant truth of the matter irking him to no end, he had to caustically admit that some things never changed.

Feeling his vision about to blur once again, the Draconian cried out in frustration and violently shook his head from side to side. Hands raised and ran through silk, wild tresses in flagrant aggravation.

He just couldn't do it. No matter how hard he tried, the dark waters swelling deeply before him mysteriously were proving to be extremely tenacious. Every time he tried to see what was past their mysterious veil, a thousand shimmering droplets of water would pool at the centre of the place he was trying to see past and refuse him the only sight he wished to see.

Running a hand slowly through his hair, this time detachedly, the Draconian gently shook his head from side to side, before his hand came to rest at the nape of his neck and his cerise eyes came to gaze out across the darkened, shadowy expanse of the pool sorrowfully.

'**_I must find it….There is no other way I can heal her.'_**

Gently rubbing the back of his neck, the Draconian sighed resignedly and let his gaze fall to the shimmering surface of the waters below, scarlet depths swirling slowly in slight sadness.

'_**But how can I find it if everything beneath the pool's surface is distorted either by the swell of the tides or the opaqueness of the water?'**_

Unconsciously rubbing the back of his neck further, the Draconian's eyes lost a bit of their brightness as they regarded the rippling surface of the waters swelling at his feet.

'**_Or how can I get one of the healing stones at the bottom of the pool if I can't see it clear enough to locate it?'_**

Delving deeper into thought, the prince's eyes adopted a faraway look as they stayed trained to the gently rippling surface of the waters shimmering slightly under the moon's light.

The wind breathed its soft sigh over the pool, the great expanse of shimmering waters opening up in willing, gentle ripples that faded at the water's edge. The distant calling of a bird disrupting the still silence for what seemed the first time in a century, the waxy moon laying suspended in a half-masked sky painting its ethereal beauty over the tender scenery of the forest clearing. But, nothing came to him. Nothing to save him from the one thing he would have rather waited to do.

Letting out a soft sigh, the Draconian let his eyes trail away from the shimmering waters and settle on the small jewel that rested against his chest, the small embers contained within its fiery depths dancing and emitting faint warmth, as silvery threads of moonlight played across its crystalline walls.

He had to admit, it was beautiful. Even after gazing at it for the countless hours since he had been chosen three years, five months, and two days ago to this very day, he still couldn't get over its unmatchable beauty.

Perhaps it was his frequent run-in with the shadows that caused him to label such a small jewel as an item of such supreme beauty that at times he had even doubted his worthiness to wield it? Or perhaps it was the fact that he had never met one person, Draconian or human alike, that could even stand a chance against this item of such unmatchable beauty?

Even now as he gazed down at the small jewel, he questioned the likeliness of there being anything or anyone that even possessed a smidgen of the beauty that was so brilliantly being radiated from this small shard of crystal. The small embers contained within its fiery depths dancing and emitting a faint warmth as silvery threads of moonlight played across its crystalline walls…How could he not?

But, even so, he couldn't in a thousand lifetimes convince himself not to do what he knew needed to be done. He couldn't lie to himself and say that it didn't matter whether she lived or died. He couldn't bring himself not to do what his mind and soul were screaming at him to do…

And, he couldn't ignore the fact that time was indeedrunning out.

If he wished to save the girl, he _had_ to act.

If he wished to save the girl, he _had _to do what he had come here to do in the time that still remained.

If he wished to save the girl…he had to gracefully accept the risks and carry forward. (A/N) 1.

Because, if he didn't…it was already too late.

Ignoring everything else, the waters, the foliage swaying gently in the breeze, the moon's radiance, the Draconian focused all his concentration into the tiny little stone, intent on awakening its hidden magics.

Seeing the small embers liven marginally at his mental touch, the Draconian smiled softly as he brought up a hand to lightly grasping it and slide it two notches to the left.

The small embers burst into flame within the small confines of the stone, blazing with the fury of a thousand suns, as small streams of light circled slowly away from the blazing center, passing through the crystals walls, to harmlessly weave around the welcoming form of its master as if caught in an orbit.

Opening his crimson eyes to gaze at the streamlets of crimson light that were harmlessly orbiting around him as if awaiting him command, the Draconian smiled softly before nodding and allowing the magical lights to shoot toward him and consume him.

The small embers burst into flame within the small confines of the stone, blazing with the fury of a thousand suns, as small streams of light circled slowly away from the blazing center, passing through the crystals walls, to harmlessly weave around the welcoming form of its master as if caught in an orbit.

Opening his crimson eyes to gaze at the streamlets of crimson light that were harmlessly orbiting around him as if awaiting him command, the Draconian felt a bit of his unease wash away and smiled softly before nodding and allowing the magical lights to shoot toward him and consume him.

Feeling the familiar sensation of his body leaving him, the Draconian, still smiling, calmly opened his eyes to be greeted by the sight of the soft magics nibbling at various points on his body, withdrawing the awakened magics of his wings and armor back into the dark confines of his crystal.

After his body felt considerably lighter and the brilliant, glowing beadlets of light had faded away, the Draconian opened his eyes to find that he had returned to the peaceful setting of the forest pool.

A light breeze ruffled his violet and ebony locks, his cerise pools glinting slightly as a branch flowed and disrupted the natural flow of moonlight within the serene forest clearing.

Looking out across the pool at the claw-like shadow that was harmlessly rising and falling to the rhythm of the wind's breath, the Draconian felt a bit of the sadness ebb back into his soul.

'_**Now for the next part.'**_

Tearing his eyes away from the branch that had now quieted down as the wind had ceased, the Draconian turned his eyes down to examine himself quietly to see if he had successfully transformed from the Draconian that he was now, what seemed twenty-four seven, to the human that he actually was, living in a place not far from here, the Origins of the Dragons, nowadays called Sault De'em.

Seeing that everything was as it should be, the Draconian let out a soft sigh before going back to the task at hand.

Sighing softly, he gazed down at the leather outfit he loved so much, before his eyes slipped shut and he let his hands wander to his waist to unclasp the higher of the two belts hanging half-hazardly off his hip waist junction.

Opening his eyes again to gaze down at the unclasped buckle, he slowly removed the leather strap from around his waist, and tossed it unceremoniously on the grass beside him.

Turning his eyes away from the belt presently sprawled across the ground, the Draconian returned his gaze to the lower of the two belts.

Shaking his head softly, the Draconian closed his eyes before unclasping the second of the belts, and letting it fall carelessly to his feet.

'_**I can't believe I'm doing this…'**_

Trying to keep his mind focused on the task at hand so that resolve wouldn't fail miserably, the Draconian attempted to keep even breaths as his hands wandered to his jacket front to remove it from his sweating torso that was trembling slightly from the realization of what he was about to do.

He hesitated slightly.

'_**Why am I trembling? Why am I so hesitant over what I'm about to do? It's not like I'm shy or anything'**_

Willing his body to stop shaking, he continued to try and remove his jacket.

After his body had stopped trembling enough for him to peel the jacket off his sweating torso, the Draconian went to remove his leather undershirt.

Looking down at his chest, to see the many buckles glinting in the luminescent moonlight, the Draconian relaxed a little.

'_**She's not going to see me, so I have nothing to worry about. It's not like the girl's going to wake up anytime soon…'**_

Just to reassure himself, not knowing how long it would actually take to return to what he had set there to do (A/N) 1. , he brought slightly-relieved crimson eyes to gaze over at the gnarled trunk of the nearby weeping willow where the girl was propped. He smiled softly.

The pillow he had made for her, of folded up fern leaves and twine, was holding together nicely. It still kept her injured head off the harsh bark of the gnarled weeping willow and served somewhat as a cushion of comfort.

Settling his gaze over the harsh gash above her right eye, his features darkened.

How anyone was capable of doing anything like this completely beat him, but, with the shadows and to his great disgust, anything was possible. Since their unfortunate arrival to the act of atrocity against this innocent girl, they continued to surprise him in new, considerably horrible ways.

"I don't know what you're playing at, false ruler, but I honestly can't comprehend or forgive you for what you and your shadows are doing to this poor, innocent city."

Loosing a great deal of edge to his features, the Draconian slowly made his way over to the girl and knelt beside her. A bronzed-kissed hand came up and touched the cool skin of her forehead delicately.

"…Why would you do such an atrocious thing? Why, of all the things you can be doing, do you choose to dedicate your life to committing such felonies?"

Letting his gaze fall and retracting his hand slightly, beautiful hues of saddened ruby lingered on the ground at his feet.

"Why on Earth would you do such a thing..."

"**_Because he can…"_**

Greatly startled at the ethereal voice that was whispered across the winds, speaking with a majesty that only spoke with unsettling, untold truth, the prince whirled around and unconsciously took a step back. His eyes widened.

There, situated in front of him, was a dragon. But not just any dragon…it was the dragon whose portrait hung in every hall, decorated every chamber, lit every portion of the salvaged palace of the ancients with untold majesty…it was Guerialdo, the leader of the seven that had disappeared into the corridors of time all those years ago, giving there souls to the acclaimed seven that would in turn save humanity as well as the rest of the world from the threat of the merciless shadows.

"Guerialdo…"

It was a soft, subtle whisper, ones whose chords you would have figured too soft to reach the ancient's ears, but he heard it, along with the shock that resonated in every syllable.

"Prince, this is no time to be shocked. I am here, yes, but only on accord of your crystal. Without my soul's tie to that little object, I would cease to be connected to this world. But that's not important; what is important right now is what is to come in the near future as well as your roll in it."

Shocked even more by this statement, the prince stared blankly at the dragon that was staring at him levelly for a few more seconds before shaking his head from side to side in an effort to clear his mind of the vast number of questions that were flitting madly through it as well as the fogginess.

Once the last of the fog had subsided and normal thoughts were able to roam the corridors of his mind again, the prince brought a tired, questioning gaze upon the dragon.

"What you're trying to tell me is that you came here to talk to me of the events predetermined that I, according to the ancient prophecy, hold a direct part in? Is this not the reason you have awakened yourself from your primordial slumber and come here to me?"

Deeply impressed by the level of maturity that the prince had already amounted to, Guerialdo offered the prince a rare smile, a smile that seemed to lighten his features considerably.

"Almost prince, there is just one fact we need clarify."

Seeing the prince's confused expression, Guerialdo inwardly chuckled before raising a great, taloned hand and swiping it out in front of him.

A great deal of magic exploded from a once-dormant crystal, strands of fuchsia violet brilliance unraveling and swirling around a deadly hide of ebony and scarlet. Solidity faded and the oncoming illusion of solidity settled. Guerialdo knew not a solid form, but a transparent mirage alight with only the magic of fiery embers, set in clear orbs that glinted in the ethereal wash of moonlight radiance.

Crimson widened and fiery scarlet softened momentarily.

"Guerialdo?"

"Yes, your presumptions are correct…I am not really here."

Unadulterated shock seemed to barrel into him at that precise moment, a bewildering and overpowering feeling stealing its way across his consciousness as hazy disbelief clashed with stiff, stalwart denial.

It couldn't possibly be true. The other was in front of him, clear as day. There was no way he could be situated in another world, peacefully slumbering on, only marginally aware of his conversation here while his exact replica was here, talking to him, the now-more-than-slightly unnerved prince. It just wasn't possible. Unless…by some unlikely fact the elders had actually withheld something from him and not told him everything about his crystal and the jewel actually possessed more magics than he had first presumed…

A soft chuckle accented the cool night air.

"Prince, by no way am I a replica. I may be slightly transparent, but that doesn't, in anyway, mean that I am a replica. I am manifested out of the magics drifting so alluringly from your awakened crystal."

He motioned toward the small jewel that was resting on the prince's chest that was glinting ever so slightly with awakened magics in the brilliant wash of iridescent starlight.

"It was your little jewel that provided the magic I so desperately needed to reach you tonight…"

The prince snapped out of his reverie altogether when a sad sigh drifted across his senses. Forgetting his slight bafflement at how the other had so readily known what he had been thinking for a moment, the prince immediately stopped upon seeing the distant, sad, knowing look that had crossed the dragon's face in the last moments.

It was as if the ancient dragon knew something…something he didn't really want to share but, out of importance and urgency, knew he had to…It was the secret of all secrets and it drew the prince in like a moth to a flame.

A pair of soft scarlet eyes, alight with the slight dance of azure blue flames, turned down to gaze with a serious despondency into the orbs of liquid malt that were flickering with alighted interest and intrigue.

"Prince…there is something you must know…"

Put off slightly when the other let out another sad sigh, the Draconian momentarily wondered if he really wanted to know. From the way Guerialdo was acting, this was something very important, and, consequently, shouldn't be taken lightly.

He already had enough problems and he certainly didn't want anymore. With the threat of the shadow invasion, the considerable amount of pressure on him to fulfill the five millennia old prophecy, a slew of emotional problems brought about by a deep emotional scar that had yet to heal, he didn't have a lot of time for himself. He certainly didn't want anything that would tear him away from his alone time; gods, he barely got enough to keep him sane. The brunt of everything that was on his plate right now made sure of that.

He didn't regret his decision of making the sacred vows all those years ago after his crystal had chosen him above all others to wield its power; he was actually glad. The act had rewarded him with many rewarding memories, won him friends he wouldn't even think of replacing for the world, and gave him the will to carry on after his mother and father, the respectful king and queen, had died so horrifically in a surprise raid on the winter palace while off on their anniversary three winters before when the young prince had only been fourteen summers old.

He was truly and thoroughly devastated, but, with the new-found revelation that his younger sister, two summers younger than himself, still needed him, the prince had forced himself to step up to his legacy and accept his birthright. He had chosen to go through with the ancient judgment for her sake, willingly put up with the excruciating and, some, painful tests that were located deep within the bowels of the ancient trails with the thought of his sister spurring him on, until he had, at last, reached the sacred chamber of the crystals and the judging had commenced, no interest in honor or fidelity present, just a love and loyalty to his sister that none could match.

He had emerged from the primordial stone temple looking thoroughly exhausted but pleased with himself as he clutched a small but beautiful crystal close to himself, rays of scarlet dancing serenely under walls of crystal caked with layers of stigma and dust.

He hadn't known it for a few moments, but, when he came out and finally looked up, his gaze was greeted by at least a hundred of his fellow Draconians, set in their human forms, as they grinned hugely at him, already knowing exactly what he had succeeded in doing. He had tried to be discreet, sneaking off in the early hours of the morning, leaving a note that contained a small white lie on his bedside table that he had gone out for a long walk…but, like he should have realized before he had ventured out into the crisp night air, it was to no avail. Draconians had the uncanny ability to know when someone was lying or when they weren't doing as told.

His sister had been ridiculously good at it.

At the thought of his sister, something in the prince's continence drastically changed.

A mass of crisp, eloquent, golden bangs proceeded to fall and the pained features of a once-thoroughly-interested face proceeded to be shadowed.

Guerialdo sensed it and was immediately on his feet.

It had happened two months before: the event that had drastically changed the prince's once perfect lifestyle and cascaded him into a world where regret and denial were his only companions, the brunt of pain and devastation nonfathomable.

The loss of his sister at the hands of a shadow had truly changed the prince…

"Prince! Prince! Atemu can you hear me! Prince, look at me! Prince!"

Shadowy denial and deep dark pain that swirled and encroached and layered in thick, overpowering, smoldering capacities. The ringing of agonized screams deep and confining and so so painful, lacerated and dying. The fleeting glance of scarlet beauty draining, crystalline diamonds dying, life dulling, end coming.

"Prince!"

A whimper, a call , an admonishment of death. All lost, all consuming. Haunting beacons of suppressed inner memoir coming back to complete what they had so viciously started.

"Prince!"

A deafening thud, a lurid, almost cadaverous cry, nearly mute chords emancipated as a brusque whir of rushing sound rose and painstakingly fell speaking of the silence of death.

Overbearing darkness slithering and thick, wrapping around his vulnerable form.

The devastatingly faint cry of a desperate voice numbed by the folds of pungent darkness.

A further fall from grace.

A distant light one of eremitical beauty, characterized by transcendental nature.

An inhale of heavens breath.

"Prince, hold on. We'll get you through this…"

And the prince knew no more…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Another chappie done and, look, my first cliffie!

Author's Irrevalant notes

(A/N) 1. As you already would have guessed, it is going to take Atemu a bit of time to return to the task he was in the middle of doing when Guerialdo distracted him.

(A/N) 2. Atemu brought the girl to the pool to heal her, but, before he was going to do what he was going to at the time note is located, he had hoped to have located one of the healing fragments.

The reason for this, I won't tell you just yet because I don't want to spoil what's going to happen in the next chapter, but, I will tell you that the girl is in fact Serenity and that she will play a vital role in our couple coming together!

-grins- Did we all like Atemu's stripping session? If we did, than please leave a review and tell me. It will give me incentive to write more situations like that later on -laughs-

Now, I would like to personally thank everyone for reviewing the last chapter of Gravity of Love! It was very much appreciated and, because so many people liked it, I'll get the chapter soon!

If I didn't say it in Gravity of Love, I'll say it now. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all!

Luv ya all, Obsidia


	4. Revival and Fall 2

Drip.

Drip.

Tinkle.

Young amethyst eyes, dull and detached, slowly opening.. Another drip, another tinkle, biting numbness.

Vividly distinguished cerise barring down relentlessly into pools of dulled violet, harsh, molten ruby depths, cold and calculating, aflame and burning with unquenched hunger clashing with subtle chords of confusion and numb intrigue laced ever so loosely in shimmering amethysts.

Another maddeningly reticent sound of daunting tinkle followed by looming drip.

A long, nimble finger, shakily rising…falling on the possessor of amethysts, distorted shadows slithering around an extended digit, consuming, ugly…inexorable.

A shaky inhale of breath, hunger and blind aspiration blazing suddenly within irises of darkening molten cerise. Shadows shooting rapidly out and around the boy, darkness unquenched looming and decisive around him.

Daunting tinkle, followed by another looming drip.

Tentacular limbs sliding, slithering. A boy of forgotten amethyst heritage staring detachedly into irises of molten rubies struck with the most lucid of bared hungers.

Darkness's shift, rigid atmosphere unwavering. Dulled amethysts stare with transfixed nature into silently blaring crimson, suspended darkness wound and heavy holding him in abrasive coldness as an atmosphere rung warningly around them that thought of a thousand screams of a voiceless mind. All clerical warnings voiced through a mind's vain hope carried through desolate recesses of a bound boy smeared with the alighting of fording, dark magics.

One step towards, a finger remaining shakily settled on him. An insane grin.

"L-light…"

End of Dream Sequence

Scratchy shuffling, swirling shadows slowly dispersing.

Beautiful rays of shimmering light filtering peacefully through an open window and ghosting across the plush carpeting of an apartment's darkened interior, thin rivulets of threaded brilliance streaming across the ground to illuminate a bed in the corner with shrouded moonlight.

Terrified amethyst eyes stared fearfully ahead of themselves, strong anxiety and fierce, blind terror emanating off the possessor's soul in thick, overpowering waves as a disturbing dread stole over the boy that ebbed to the far reaches of his being and slashed his previous self-security to bits.

He had never had such a dream before. A heated drop of perspiration trickled unnervingly-slow down the boy's temple.

Mysterious waters of deceptively swirling ebony gradually receded, their grips on the boy's consciousness slowly loosening as the memory of the dream became more and more opaque as the seconds trickled by and a sinking feeling of horrible dread hovered oppressively in its place.

Bedspread covers were brought desperately closer to a rapidly-cooling body as slews of images continued to assault the terrified boy's mind. Random images drifted in and out of the traumatized boy's consciousness, seemingly harmless shreds of memory flitting in and alighting intensely before fading back down and falling away from view.

He had never had a dream like that before. Never, in all his years of living, had he experienced something so horrible. Iris' of molten lava screaming hunger, burning intense want and unquenched desire; he brought his knees up to his chest and hugged them desperately. No, he had never experienced anything like that and he never wanted to experience anything like that ever again. Not even his worst nightmares were that bad and the looming dread that lingered heavily in its wake made it all the more worse.

Broken tears wound heavily down cheeks of moonlit alabaster.

"I never want to see those red eyes again…"

Clouded cerise eyes slowly peeled themselves open.

Glaring light from an unknown source, multitudes of spots rising to predominate his already-blurry vision.

Lids clenched tightly and a groan emanated into the still silence of the empty world surrounding the figure.

He didn't know where he was, or how he had gotten there, but he was sure of one thing. He felt terrible.

Gods, a pounding headache, a numb body, this definitely wasn't good, especially when you accounted the fact that he was very ignorant to where he actually was. Feeling particularly weak and exposed, he shifted a bit only for an agonizing pain to shoot up his tender spine.

Flinching slightly, he clenched his hands slightly in a hopeful effort to subdue at least a bit of the pain, as the dull throbbing in his lower back slowly but surely subsided. Once the pain of his movement had ceased and his continence was able to fade back down to that of tired relief, he let his body slowly relax.

He would have sought to find a sanctuary for the night, but, as he couldn't barely move and couldn't open his eyes without an abhorrent nausea sweeping through his being, he was forced to stay here to recover, completely exposed and prey to any one of night's insidious creatures.

A scratchy shuffling to his left alerted him of another presence.

Numb tenseness rang dully through his unreceptive being as he opened his tired eyes a crack, a slack hand coming to rise slowly to protect his overly-sensitive retinas from the harsh glare of the light. Dull crimson swept slowly over the neglected surroundings of the area surrounding him, tired disinterest ebbing strongly in dulled irises.

A filthy street lamp pouring dusty, dank light over an alleyway, a nearby dumpster reflecting the worn light of the predominant moon, cracked and neglected pavement overturned and matted into a winding path to a distant adjoining street, a thick, soulless shadow playing heavily across dead surroundings, nothing to indicate the source of the sound.

Letting his hand fall heavily away from his face, the Draconian let his dusky lids slide closed, head falling back onto the partition behind him as exhaustion finally began having its toll on his system.

This situation seemed so familiar to him, so real, as if it had happened once before, if not many times in a dream. The darkness, the alleyway; everything. It all seemed so familiar, a lost toy found again.

Ruby eyes turned meagerly, fatigue and exhaustion bearing and oppressive weighing down heavily on body and soul as irises of worn ruby began to slowly scope out the source of the fallen shadow.

Cerise eyes passed over trashcans, a lonely dumpster, turned up gravel; nothing to suggest the source of the shadow that was presently cast across the ground. It wasn't until a spine-racking sound of undeniable evil scratched its way through the still night air and the calm stillness that had previously settled over the alleyway was shattered, that all attentions were drawn toward a crevice in a bricked partition seven meters away.

Unsteady crimson eyes slowly leaked of life as they turned to gaze almost ineptly at the opening to the battered fissure. Sight blurring, vision swaying unsteadily in and out of clarity, cerise orbs still vainly tried to keep their gaze level with that of the opening.

There was nothing. He could see nothing. Darkness, that was all he could see.

Darkness.

Deep and engulfing, smoldering with an oppressive fire that burned away the dull comfort that the dirty, lone beams of light created as they meagerly filtered through the still night's air.

Darkness. Pangs of undeniable evil, numb and deadly and strong, flitting slowly, maddeningly into and through his senses, dulled warnings falling unfortunately on equally deadened senses.

The Darkness was all he knew, all they knew but, as the seconds trickled by, his vision being further and further reduced to that of a blurred, almost numb, nonexistence and the feelings of strong but weak warning continued to play vainly over his exhausted senses, a feeling of dull familiarity couldn't help but creep over him.

Staggering up, the creature of human-dragon genome attempted to see past the fog clouding his vision, the darkness that lay ever so pungent in front of him, and see into a world of uncharted territory where strange feelings and fatal reality were woven into an intricate pattern of present that he was not yet knowledgeable to.

Blurriness receded and the strengthening of an otherwise smoldered aura led to the retracting of a bit of pungent darkness as the comforting glint of the firestone returned alive but faint to the long-dimmed walls of the delicate jewel.

Pools of deepest ruby narrowed subtly to pierce the thick shadows that overlay the area of greatest concealment to see what lay within.

Elongated fangs, insidious and plunging. Beady black eyes glinting maddeningly under the tainted light of a harvest moon. Soft, despairing cries of lost hope drifting out into the still night air begging for a release.

Thin rivulets of crimson brilliance winding down and around an exposed pale neck, a flowing mane of dulled violet and ebony trembling slightly.

A body loosing more and more of the vitality of life as shudders gradually abated, dire urgency and criticality of the situation washing away with the mere passage of time.

"No…"

A choked sob. A stumble backwards.

"Why?"

An astringency of life-altering, deep pain, chords of the knowledge of happiness dispersing violently and long forgotten from a being painstakingly watching a scene he never wished to see again. Darkness rolled in, overwhelmed and plagued cerise shadowing heavily as the braces of staggering sorrow and soul-deep repentance slowly deepened. The voiceless whispers of insidious evocativeness drifting in on misleading caresses and instilling false senses into his battered conscious.

Why did he have to experience this again...It wasn't fair…he already blamed himself for what happened.

Weak limbs worked a body gradually closer to a far partition, a fallen prince degrading further by the second.

Elongated fangs retracting purposefully and beady eyes holding something greatly disturbing rose to gaze into his lifeless orbs levelly. A maddening glint and embers of raging ebony flickered with sparks of dull violet.

"Ori dal sooth?"

No…not again…

"Why?…how could I have done that?…how could I have left her?"

The prince closed in on himself.

He wrapped his arms around his shaking figure, drawing his knees in closer to himself.

Tears waded silently down cheeks of warm, moonlit bronze, tear tracks being created as they wordlessly flowed down the sharp inclinations of his continence, the moon's play across closed lids and shimmering beads collected in silken lashes instilling a sense of ethereal beauty over the unsuspecting figure.

"How could I have abandoned her when she needed me the most?"

The near suckling of a forgotten shadowed slashed through the prince's thought process and, with heavily-devastated eyes, he turned his head away.

The creature greedily shifted his sister ever so closer to the orifice of its supposed mouth, but he didn't allow himself to see.

He still remembered that night when he had lost everything that he held dearest to him.

Flashback

"Atemu…No. You must go…you must leave before he comes back…," thoroughly pained cry, "…Go…Leave...You must leave before they come back…"

"Izraellis, no…I can't leave you. You're injured; if I leave you, they'll come back and finish what they started. Without defense, you'll die! I absolutely refuse to let that happen!"

"Brother…you are strong and so am I. I guarantee that, if you leave, we will talk again; I will be there when you finally do find that right someone and I will be there by your side when this is all over. The shadow's emergence this night after thousands of years will not change that, even if I happened to have been injured in the battle a mere two hours ago. I will live, that I promise you…"

Delicate orbs of finest rose softened as they took in the anguished continence of the prince.

"But, if I do happen to die this night, I know you will be able to continue on without me; you have always been the stronger one…"

Soft rose eyes softened further as they came to gaze up into the anxiety-ridden cerise eyes of the prince of the Draconians and late brother of sixteen years.

"You are brave," a gentle caress of the cheek with the back of a hand, "Loyal," an equally soft caress gracing the forehead, "Too kind for your own good," a back of a hand breathing a caress across the other cheek, "Looks that have caused members of both sexes to faint on sight of you…"

A soft smile, sparkling irises of glimmering rose awake and shimmering tying to that of profoundly anguished cerise. A fleeting caress across a silken cheek delicately wiping away the collecting tears.

"You will be a wonderful king. Even if I pass, you will rule this world with unfounded virtue and righteousness…no one will lie unhappy in your life-long term; no one will ever have the need to be nostalgic…"

Alabaster lids were half-lidded now, exhaustion bearing down on the frail figure weakening her. Raspy breaths came out shallowly, abnormal pants rising into the night sky as the cool air froze it on contact.

"Izraellis…"

"Brother…don't worry about me. I'm fine. Now, go. You must get out of here; they need your help. The Shadows are slowly taking over the city. You are the prince; they need you…"

A harsh coughing fit followed and Atemu found himself desperately clutching his sister closer, helplessness and desolation ringing futile and dull through orbs of decaying vibrancy as all hope slowly trickled away with the passage of his sister's blood onto the battered gravel of the destroyed alleyway. The distant sounds of the explosions only reached them every so often now.

"Atemu, go…L-leave me. Y-you h-have to…Y-you know you must."

And it was true. So true and so simple that even a dying person's mind, sluggish and narrow at the loss of blood, could rule it out; the feeling of numb awareness in the wake before the calm of slumbering oblivion did not even play a part. But he, barely wounded and in almost prime condition, besides his devastated emotional state, could not come to terms with that. Despite his valiant efforts to be strong in one of the most crunching times of his life that called for it, he could not do it.

He could not abandon his little sister.

"I can't…"

"Atemu, y-you must. You know you must. D-do it for me, for our family..."

A desperate plea, "Do it for mom and dad."

Crystalline brilliance wound down the sharp contours of the prince's face.

"Why?"

"Because it's what they would have wanted. As the prince you have a duty to your kin, your people."

Despondent ruby softened.

"But I have a duty to you first and foremost…"

Quiet ruby twinkled with a soft inner light, as sadness retracted slowly to the back burner and movement brought her brother's softly-shimmering crystal to be revealed resting on the soft pads of his index and middle fingers.

"When I came to possess this crystal those long three years ago, I made a pledge," Ruby eyes continued to twinkle, "a pledge that I still hold just as important now as I did back then."

Rose eyes gazed on silently as her brother continued his spiel.

Dusky lids closed once, before opening a second later, halfway. Sadness minutely hindered the prince's collectivity.

"That pledge was to protect you."

Ruby eyes filled with sorrow.

"You have to go."

The prince's collectivity was shattered.

"No…"

"I want you to go…"

"No…" A shake of the head.

"You know you have to…"

"No…"

"Brother…"

"No!"

A hardening of voice and mind, unbearable emotion running like cold iron steel through veins that felt like they were aflame, distorting the prince's reason.

"Izraellis, No! I will not do it! I will not leave you!"

"But, yet, you know you have to…" A softly spoken phrase, one that made the prince's last statement evaporate into a cloud of dust.

Ruby eyes silently filled with tears.

Rose eyes overshadowed with pain and sadness. "You have to, because you have a duty to our people…"

Ruby eyes rose up to gaze into Rose meagerly.

"Izraellis, I can't leave you…"

"Atemu, you have to."

The unshed tears were slowly shed, darkening brilliance slowly winding down a darkening continence arousing the moon's sympathy as it sent melancholic rays to shine down over the devastated figure in an attempt at comfort.

A heartfelt nod, a turn, wings extending. Cerise eyes glinting in the moonlight, one glance back speaking of forever. Excruciating sorrow, an emotion shared between two. Eyes tearing away from slowly shutting ruby, a choked sob, a beat of strong wings, and the prince was gone.

End Flashback

A brilliant flash of light, a torrent of unbearable emotions and memories swirling and engulfing, a clawing back to horrible, unwanted, agonizing reality as the gateway to reminiscence slowly opened.

He wailed and whimpered, but it was to no avail. His sister as well as his parents were lost to him forever. He was alone in this world. He had nobody. His friends tried to pretend as though they knew what he was going through, but they truly had no idea. He was alone.

He desperately clutched himself closer.

He would always be alone and he was starting not to care. The only people who had ever truly loved him were gone now and he had been left to pick up the shattered remnants that had once been his heart.

A drop of majestic light descending from the sky was left unnoticed until a deep, commanding voice disrupted the still silence of the alley and distracted the prince momentarily from his tears.

'**Enter the Light…'**

A brilliant light exploded and scattering rays of light swept through the alley, beams of ethereal brilliance sparkling and radiating subtly under the moon's gentle touch. Ethereal rays expanded and brushed across the ground, hitting the dumpster, the pole of the streetlight, the battered pavement.

A shrill shriek of a forgotten shadow screeched cacophonously through the deathly silent alleyway, shrill and unwanted chords slicing into the tangible silence only to be cut off abruptly as a ray of light reduced the shadow to a pile of dust. Once-empty pools of deep cerise filled subtly with chords of disbelief as tears wound silently from their edges.

A ball of light slowly descended from above, shrouded layers of airy brilliance winding around as shimmering beams continued to orbit quietly around the orb.

The prince's eyes drained and a captivating spark flared to life within dull garnets.

On whimsical instinct, the holder of the crystal got up and took a light step towards the floating orb. Lights continued to orbit and another footfall of a step was heard.

Empty cerise trailed up to the ball of light hovering above. Another step. A shaky inhale of breath and something unknown flickered in dull garnet.

A rise of a hand…and everything stopped. Beams shakily coming to a standstill, glowing orb of light hovering decisively above, breath of a spellbound prince.

The world's parted and the lights were drawn. Cerise stood numbly as they painstakingly stood and waited for what they were destined to see. A filling of empty crimson, functions returning slowly back to their owner. A further drawing of lights.

Cloudiness of vision slowly dispersing, blurry crimson eyes tiredly squinting to see through the dull haze of light that was slowly receding away from his senses, sparkling under the wash of the moon.

A voice, softer than before, emanating from an invisible void and echoing through the alighted passageway…

'**Nori sal an'a…Toreem bai et'kanaa…Let the prince know…let him know what is to come…let him know what lies ahead…let him know what will change his life forever…'**

A slow intake of breath and tired cerise eyes lifted shakily to gaze up at the ball as if drawn.

Cerise eyes widened.

Amethyst of the most beautiful strains of violet gazed back at him.

Sparkling and starring at him as if possessing a hidden, unknown knowledge under moon's fine brilliance, they formed the prince's picturesque perfect ideal of beautiful.

Laces of untarnished chastity, shimmering pools of brilliant radiance holding knowing wisdom but also glinting subtly with chords of curiosity and timidity…a pure soul of the most unimaginable beauty, it blew the prince's mind away and left him with a lingering sensation of completeness as he just stared into those beautiful amethysts and basked in the beauty and warmth they provided.

A melodious voice gifted his ears and the prince closed his eyes for just a minute to revel in the soft voice that drifted over his skin in a silken caress.

'**When the raging storm has fallen and the moon graces the night's skies once again, that is when you will find me…'**

Hazy cerise eyes snapped open and a bead of blinding light fell to his level of sight. Cloudiness dissipated when the bead encompassed his entire vision and the past beams of light, along with the orb, faded away.

The prince's eyes widened substantially and something flickered violently within his crystal. Some deeper in his heart broke and he was left feeling emptier than he ever had before. It left him…

The bead shone even brighter and the prince found himself getting strangely drowsy as he lost hold of his emotions.

'**Its time for you to return to us prince…'**

He felt himself collapsing, his body shutting down on its own accord as he slipped silently into oblivion. But he could not find the desire to fight it or care. He was falling, but, then again, he had been falling since the last marker holding his soul in place left this world. He welcomed the darkness with a set of final words breathed through the corridors of time.

"Darkness…I welcome thee…my time in this world has long since departed. Please take me…"

He was lost before he heard the flickering reply.

**Your time in this world has not long since departed. Someone waits for you as you await them; do not give up, my prince. The time will come when the world will bow down to you as their new leader and you will find the one who makes your heart leap with devotion and glory you never knew existed. You will not fight for the world, but for them. It will seem at first that you have turned your back on your people, but, in the end, the truth will be revealed. They will be outraged, but, eventually they will understand. Have faith in my words, prince. The battle is only just beginning and the being that it will be raged around will be the one you will soon discover. Have faith, because the fate of the world and the one you will soon treasure above all else are held in the balance. **

TBC…


End file.
